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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

DUMB & LONELY IN SEATTLE

Money doesn't buy happiness. You don't believe me? Ask millionaire Robinson Cano, the guy with talent and money and nothing much else in Seattle. Every Yankee fan called it when he signed his mega deal with the Mariners. It's typical selfishness when it comes to free agency...Greed heads go for the money and never think anything through. It was crystal clear to you and I and thousands of other Yankee fans who were called "losers" when we bad mouthed Cano for darting for the money. Well... now there is rapid speculation "Cano's no longer happy in Seattle" and "Cano is sad about his time with the Mariners." Here's the thing, that speculation was predicted last season. We all knew the it was a dumb deal. We all knew 10 years was a long time, and I for one suggested then that that deal with Cano and the Mariners wasn't about Cano at all... he was just the puppet. It was about Jay-Z making a major deal for his Sports agency. Read OH, I GET IT. THIS IS ABOUT JAY-Z, NOT CANO. That was from last November 2013. I wrote then:

"Over the past 48 hours, this “Deal” that Robinson Cano wants, isn’t about Robinson Cano at all in my opinion.This is about brand new Sports Agent Jay-Z trying
to make a name for himself. Not as a rap mogul or fashion designer or entrepreneur.
No... he's done that already. This is about Jay-Z making a huge splash as a Sports Agent."

Cano was massaged and fell for it, not realizing it at the time, but he is now and it may be too late.

Yup, I just went for the throat; he's dumb and he's all alone in Seattle. Seattle had a plan, to "bring a championship" to Seattle. A Championship? Really? Cano's no Ken Griffey Jr. Let's get that straight. 1 man does not a championship make... and Cano is not that franchise player. He wasn't in New York and he sure as hell isn't out West. I have to laugh because if he wanted to be "top dog", he could have been in New York. All he needed to do was sign a modest contract, stick around till Jeter retired and he'd be the guy. We all saw that... not Cano though.

Now look, I can't pinpoint the speculation that Cano is truly unhappy in Seattle. I can tell by his body language. He doesn't look like he wants to be there. Then again, the guy never hustled, so he never looks like he even cares about baseball. But I've noticed the guy seems uninterested, especially the last 2 games we've played them. Plus, couple that with a BronxPinstripes.com report that says this:

"Sources, including Michael Kay on his radio show on Monday, are
speculating that Cano, just a year and a few months into his mega
contract with the M’s, is unhappy in Seattle. The reasons include the
lack of a Dominican population in Seattle, which is about as far away
from the DR as you can get in the continental US. Because of
their remote location the Mariners have longer travel than any team in
the league (their closest road trip is still 2 hours by plane)..."

Now take that speculation with a grain of salt. There is not 1 major publication reporting that story, just Bronx Pinstripes. Again, it's speculation from them. But wait... there's more...

The New York Post has a great nugget suggesting that maybe being is Seattle is "Jason Bay-ing" Cano. Interesting:

"'He’s a proud guy and when things got off a little slow for him, it’s
easy to press, even out here in Seattle,’ Mariners hitting coach and
ex-Met Howard Johnson said before the Yankees crushed Felix Hernandez
and the Mariners, 7-2, Monday night at Safeco Field.

Hojo believes Cano can use the entire field a bit more, the mindset
Cano had his first year as a Mariner. Sometimes, he said, hitters get a
little pull conscious.

'I think when you are used to hitting the ball out of the ballpark,
you had the same thing with Jason Bay in New York,' Johnson said. 'Guys
want to hit the ball out, they got numbers and stuff, people expect that
and the human-nature side, you start to try to go for that as opposed
to doing the things you did when you were successful: That’s be a good
hitter first and home runs will come later.’

Bay was a disaster with the Mets."

Whatever it is, the piling on has started. Yankee fans are either smiling because of Cano's failures or feeling bad for him. Me? I never hated Robinson Cano. But I don't like the greed aspect of the game and it's been going on forever. Sure, I'm picking on Robbie alittle bit, but I'm trying to make a point here. Money doesn't always buy you happiness, and while Kevin Kernan of the Post writes in fairness that "...Cano has no second thoughts. He insists he made the right decision to come to the Mariners last year," I'm not buying it. If you can't play well, it will get to a player. You not only start to beat yourself up, you start to blame everything around you.

Robinson Cano is NOT a .246 hitter... but he may be now and if that's the case... have a fun 9 more years in Seattle.